Week 2 Eagles Power Rankings Roundup- Saquon Gives Eagles A Boost
Eagles left week 1 with a win. It was not pretty, but unlike 16 teams, they are 1-0. There were some things to be concerned about, but also plenty to be excited about. But how is the national media reacting to them beating the Packers? Let’s take a look at the week 2 Eagles power rankings.
Week 2 Eagles Power Rankings Roundup
ESPN-5 (Previously 5)
“Barkley stole the show in Brazil, rushing for over 100 yards and scoring three times against the Packers — twice on the ground and once through the air. He became the second player in franchise history to score three touchdowns in his first game, joining Terrell Owens, who did it in 2004.”
We all thought Barkley would be good. I did not expect his impact to be this great in week 1 though. But having that monster of a RB, to go with AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith is going to make this offense very dangerous. They didn’t even play that well as a unit, but they still scored 34 points.
New York Times- 6 (Previously 10)
“The New York Giants didn’t open the season until Sunday and somehow they got embarrassed on Friday night in South America. Former Giants running back Saquon Barkley saved Jalen Hurts from a tough day by scoring three touchdowns, two on the ground, to go with 109 yards rushing, and one through the air.”
The Giants’ off-season Hard Knocks was hilarious. Seeing Joe Schoen flounder about the Barkley situation was great. Friday night made it even funnier. I immediately thought of John Mara saying he will have trouble sleeping if he signs with the Eagles. Hope he had a good night of sleep on Friday.
CBS Sports- 8 (Previously 11)
“The offense showed up in a big way against the Packers in Brazil, but the defense still had some issues. They have to cut down on the big plays.“
I went into the game more down on the defense than most. But I actually came away feeling a bit better about it, which is odd to say. They were certainly not perfect. The pass rush off the end is a big problem. But they got multiple big stops in crucial moments. Including holding them to a field goal of 3 of the 4 Red Zone trips.
Sports Illustrated- 5 (Previously 8)
“The Eagles scored an absolute must-have victory in the toughest of spots—a slick field thousands of miles from home on a weird night followed by strange travel circumstances–-and for at least one week stiff-armed concerns that they were continuing an end-of-season freefall that nearly prompted a coaching change.”
The circumstances around the game make me a bit more likely to forgive the slopiness. It was a tough trip, against a good team, on a bad field, in week 1. To me, it did not feel like last year. One they were having fun, which was not the case for those ugly wins last year. But also there were really good takeaways. If those issues persist, it will be an issue. But I can’t overreact to slopiness in week 1.
NFL.com- 4 (Previously 5)
“But with Baun, it was an even bigger surprise considering he’s playing a new position: off-the-ball linebacker. Baun did some of that in New Orleans, but his 15-tackle, two-sack performance showed that new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s instincts on Baun adapting roles proved correct.”
Barkley was not too surprising. but I was shocked by how good Baun looked. I did not buy it from the start when the Eagles were pumping up Baun as the best linebacker. How could a guy who was a rotational pass rusher with the Saints suddenly be a starting-caliber inside linebacker? But 1 week in, he was amazing.
Yahoo Sports- 7 (Previously 8)
“When the Eagles signed Saquon Barkley, it was surprising. Mostly because the Eagles have been one of the teams leading the charge in devaluing running backs, putting together RB rooms of cheap but effective options. Now we see why Philadelphia paid up. If what we saw in Week 1 is what we can expect from Barkley, that added dimension will change the Eagles’ offense.“
I was on that bandwagon saying RBs are not worth it. Maybe it needs to be adjusted to only elite RBs are worth it. Because McCaffrey is obviously worth it for the Niners, and it looks like Barkley is for the Eagles. If a RB can impact the game in both the run game and pass game, they can change an offense.
Bleacher Report- 5 (Previously 7)
“Given the odd circumstances of Friday’s game, Week 1 went about as well as the Eagles could have hoped. Now it’s a matter of building on that offensive success in Week 2 against the Atlanta Falcons.”
Yep. Were there problems? Absolutely. But most of the 32 teams had problems in week 1. It was an odd game vs a tough team and they survived. As long as they improve on those mistakes, it will be fine. There were really positive signs to go with some of those issues.
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7 Numbers That Tell the Story of The Eagles Win In Brazil
4,795
Let’s start with the fact that it was not your typical trip. They weren’t driving up the turnpike, flying to Dallas, or even flying cross country for a West Coast road trip. Those trips would all be easy compared to the flight to Sao Paulo. The flight from Philly to Sao Paulo took about 10 hours and traveled 4,795 miles. For reference, a Flight to Los Angeles and back would be 4,776 miles, and take just over 10 hours. Not one way, round trip. A flight from Philly to London takes about 7 hours, and you travel 3,545 miles.
This is one of the most brutal trips a team has ever had to take. Combine that with it being week 1, and the field being terrible, sloppiness is not surprising. That is not an excuse, it is just acknowledging the situation. The Packers went through it too, in fact their trip was e. Most people assume the Packers will be a great team, and they looked worse than the Eagles. At least the Eagles survived to learn from that mistake. The Packers not only lost, but Jordan Love will now miss a few weeks. We will see over the next few weeks how much the trip had to do with it. Maybe nothing, maybe everything. But these International games tend to be a bit sloppy. And this trip was worse than almost any other in NFL history.
1
A few people on defense are getting their flowers after week 1. Quinyon Mitchell is getting praise for an impressive debut. People have lauded Zack Baun, who looked great. But Slay deserves his flowers too. People kind of take him for granted, but even at 33 years old, he is still an elite corner.
Slay allowed 1 catch all game long. They hardly threw his way all game long. That is the type of thing I like to see from my CB1, that they are so shutdown the ball is not even thrown their way. It is why with many great corners, you see their takeaways go down. Teams stop throwing their way. Slay took his side of the field out of the game. I think in general Slay gets underrated in Philly. But he was great in week 1.
